Davos 2016: Christine Lagarde announces she will run for second IMF mandate

Christine Lagarde has announced she will stand for a second mandate as head of the IMFGetty

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has confirmed she will run for a second term. She has received the backing of a number of finance ministers, including the Chancellor George Osborne.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Lagarde indicated she will seek a new mandate when her current term of office ends in July 2016: "I am candidate to a new mandate. I was honoured to receive from the start of the process the backing of France, Britain, Germany, China, Korea."

Earlier this week, Osborne expressed his support for the IMF managing director by describing Lagarde as an outstanding leader who had the vision "to help steer the global economy through the years ahead.

"I nominated Christine for her first term in May 2011 and since then she has exhibited outstanding leadership, skilfully steering the Fund through big economic challenges, while working hard to deliver historic reforms to the IMF," said Osborne.

"At a time when the world faces what I've called a dangerous cocktail of risks, I believe Christine has the vision, energy and acumen to help steer the global economy through the years ahead."

However, Lagarde's decision to run for a second mandate could come under pressure after she was told to stand trial in France for a payment the government made to Bernard Tapie, a controversial tycoon who supported Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential race in 2007.

Lagarde, at the time France's finance minister, is accused of "negligence by a person in a position of public authority" over the award of over €400m (£308m) to Bernard Tapie in a probe against French lender Crédit Lyonnais, which was accused by Tapie of undervaluing his stake in Adidas. According to French prosecutors, Lagarde referred the case to arbitration and signed off the payout.